Food Wars: Welcome to Culinary World

Chapter 6: Strangeness

(2nd Person's POV)

"CONGRATULATIONS FOR PASSING 1ST YEAR, KAYA!!" your parents, and the house staff like the butler, the gardener, and housemaids yelled happily together. Except for your sister.

"Yay, sure, whatever..." Satomi said in a bored tone, rolling her eyes. "Haha! Thanks, everyone!" you smiled brightly.

"We brought presents. I know you like presents, honey pot" Masahi said, showing you a set of colorful boxes wrapped beautifully. Your eyes had hearts in them as you stared in awe, "Oooohhh! I love you guys! You're the best parents ever!".

"Uh-huh, yeah, okay. Can I go now? I have important things to do" Satomi interrupted, crossing her arms. "Oh, come on, Satomi. Your little sister just passed her first year, show a little enthusiasm!" Mayumi frowned.

"Fine..." Satomi sighed in defeat, while you were opening your presents, squealing as some of them were things you always wanted. Then after that, you enjoyed the delicious feast your parents cooked.

For it was now summer vacation. Aahh~ yes, three beautiful months of...doing absolutely nothing! Well, you get to play video games for endless number of hours, not to mention that there was a new game you wanted to play so this was a great opportunity! You prepared your favorite snacks, drinks, and wore something comfy as you began playing the game. This was your idea of heaven.

Your game room was like entering another world, probably no other gamer could design their game rooms as amazing as yours. It was incredibly spacious, the entire walls are like large screens, including the floor and ceiling, they showed nothing but ocean and skies like the salt flats located in Bolivia. And each step you take in that room, the floor reflects your steps as if you're walking on water. The screens also follow the timing perfectly, for you don't need to go outside to see if it was morning or sunset or nighttime, and they look breathtaking. You had everything a gamer has, from the early consoles of PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo, to the newest edition of these devices, and a PC. You also had your collection of the video games, lined and well-organized on the shelves, along with action figures of your favorite characters, plushies, accessories, posters, mugs, and many more. The was designed to be opened by a specially designed key that you just hold near the keyhole, and it opens by itself. A crazy amount of money was spent into this room, but it was everything you ever dreamed of. And nobody is allowed to go into this room except for you.

"So, you're just going to lock yourself up in your game room and play video games the entire vacation?!" Mayumi upsettingly asked with her hands on her hips.

"What do you want me to do?? Everyone I know is busy, and it's not like I want to go out, anyway" you stated.

"Still, that doesn't mean you should lock yourself up all the time! Look, why don't you come to our restaurant? You'll get to see me and your dad cook" she suggested with a hopeful smile. You stayed silent for a moment before letting out a sigh and answer her.

"I don't know, mom. Maybe later...".

-

(Mayumi's POV)

I sighed in defeat, "Alright, then, I'm leaving". I closed the door behind me and went downstairs to see Masahi waiting for me.

"Ready to go, babe?" he smiled, I didn't say anything but nod, and we left the house. But on the way there, my mind was so busy about my daughter.

"She's been acting weird lately. I know that she's usually quiet, but this time...she's a little too quiet. She doesn't even want to do anything but lock herself up in that game room all day and night. Did something happen to her at school? Did she have a fight with her friends?" I pondered, anxiously. I decided not to jump into conclusions too soon, but that doesn't mean that I won't keep an eye on her.

As soon as we arrived at the restaurant, the staff members were already there, waiting for us to open the place. "Morning, everyone!" Masahi greeted as he took out the keys.

"Morning!" they replied with a smile. My husband opened the doors, and we started to get busy by making sure that we are well-stocked for today and make orders for any ingredients that might run out later, preparing the tables, and change into our cooking attire. One hour later, and we were open, and some customers already walked in for their reservations. The restaurant was as busy as always, customers were coming and leaving happily, without any single complaint.

Though I have to stay focused on my cooking, yet I couldn't help but think about Kaya, which didn't go unnoticed by my husband.

"You okay?" he asked, I looked at him and saw that he was frowning.

"Yeah, sweetie, I'm okay" I reassured him, but he didn't seem convinced as he raised a brow at me. He leaned on the counter with a sly smirk on his face, "Liar. You're thinking about something! You thinking about me~?".

I rolled my eyes playfully, "No, honey. I was thinking about Kaya". He then had a questioning look on his face, "Kaya? What's wrong with her?".

"Well, she's been acting strange lately. But I don't want assume things. Just before we left, I tried to convince her to come to work with us instead of locking herself up in that god forsaken game room all day and night, but she refused. The last time she did that, we barely saw her!" I explained, worry planted itself in my head.

"Haha! Yeah, I remember! Well, that's how teenagers are nowadays with their technologies and all that. You're worrying about nothing; she's just having fun after all the hard work of studying almost all year" Masahi reassured me.

"But still, she should go out, meet her friends, do some kind of activity besides gluing her butt on the chair and her eyes stare at the screens!" I complained.

"Did she say anything about her friends or something?" he asked. "She only said that they're all busy, so she has nothing else to do. I'm worried that she might have fought with her friends" I answered, sighing.

Masahi put down the spatula and held my hand, his gaze not leaving me. I looked at him as he smiled sweetly, "Don't worry, baby. Our little honey pot is stronger than you think, she can handle anything on her own. Look, if you insist, I can get one of our guards to watch her in school. Although I'm against those kinds of things, but I'll do anything for you".

I felt relieved and smiled, bringing him into a warm embrace. He hugged me back and patted my head before pulling away, and we eventually went back to work.

-

Later, and meanwhile...

(2nd Person's POV)

You've been inside your game room playing for hours, leaning back after finally achieving triumph of defeating the villain. You got up from your chair to stretch your legs and arms, cracking your neck as you let out a pleasured groan, rubbing your dry eyes. Noticing that it's already sunset in your own world, you decided to get out of the room for a little bit, maybe make yourself a sandwich.

You left the room and went downstairs, passing by the housemaids who you gave little salutes to as you walked into the kitchen. Licking your lips, you tapped your chin with one hand while the other rested on your hip.

"What kind of sandwich should I make?" you asked yourself. Suddenly, you remembered what your mom said before she left.

"Hmm, should I go to the restaurant?" you crossed your arms as you thought about it. Though a sandwich may sound nice, but the idea of having a delightful, piping hot dish made by your parents at the restaurant sounded a lot better. You eat their food every day, but maybe visiting the diner might not sound like such a bad idea. You smirked, nodding to yourself as you scurried back upstairs, you turned off the console and locked the game room before going to your bedroom to change.

You opened your wardrobe and grabbed the first t-shirt and jeans your eyes laid on and stripped out of your current clothes. Your outfit consisted of a black t-shirt with a picture of your favorite character on it, and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, with white converse, and a white outing backpack. After checking yourself in the mirror for the last time, you left your room and out of the house, not wanting to take the car since you needed some fresh air and stretch your legs.

"Guess it'll be fun watching them cook for once...".

-

Chapter End.